EDIT: 23-Apr-2011. Fixed grammar and spelling errors.

Quick update for those who're waiting for it. =) Special thanks to Denidene for spotting the spelling error I had for the previous chapter. Warnings for extreme OOC-ness, fast pace, and teenage stubbornness. =)

Disclaimer: Bleach isn't mine. Book from which the whole story was based on is owned by Tara FT Sering.

All The Right Moves

Chapter 3

The Things I do for you

Previously...

"Hey," someone called out in the hall, breaking Rukia's thoughts. "I tried calling you." Rukia turned around, and there stood Tōshirō.

"Your dad sounds really strict. Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."

Again, Rukia just stood there, frozen. Not merely because of Tōshirō's presence, but because her brain was working overdrive trying to process what he just said—he was looking all over for her?

"Are you still going to the outreach, Rukia?"

Rukia didn't know what to say. Obviously, he was still going and she should be, too! Was it a sign from heaven? Did this mean she was soooo back in the game?

TŌSHIRŌ smiled his signature knee-jellifying smile, where his lips slowly, almost lazily, curl up one side. Rukia didn't know what to say, and her mind went completely blank. It was such a wonder how Hitsugaya Tōshirō's smile could easily render anyone instantly powerless.

There was silence for a few short moments, then suddenly Tōshirō touched Rukia's arm looking really concerned, and asked, "Hey, are you feeling okay?"

Rukia blinked as if the touch, that magical touch, just brought her back to her senses, which it most probably did. "Y-Yes, why?"

"You seem a little…pale." Tōshirō's voice made Rukia want to just keel over and faint on the spot. She was sooo not prepared for this.

Rukia didn't think she was actually ill just because Tōshirō decided to chat her up in the hallway—not, that would be ridiculous—but she suspected that her increasingly growing confusion over what to say made her face look ashen. She had just been grounded and banned from being a part of the outreach program, for crying out loud! What now? Just pray to Kamisama that somehow her dad, with Kamisama's Divine intervention, would somehow change his mind and allow her to go?

Rukia took a deep breath as she composed her thoughts. She mentally cursed herself for the next words that were about to come out of her mouth. "I-I'm actually not yet sure if I would go..." she trailed off.

Tōshirō looked genuinely surprised at this statement.

Sigh. Rukia felt a dull pain in her chest as she delivered the rest. "I-It's just that...I might be busy with school by then."

She wasn't sure of it, but Tōshirō looked…disappointed. Or was it just her mind playing tricks on her?

"Oh, that's too bad," Tōshirō answered after a short pause. "The outreach sounds like it's going to be really worthwhile, you know?"

It appeared as though Rukia was the only one he knew who was going—and barely at that—as none of his friends would be joining the outreach. It could be her big chance to bond with him, and she was sooo tempted to just commit on going with or without her father's consent.

a. Should I just say I'll go and face the consequences when they come?

or

b. Should I just say I really need to focus on school work, which is a lie since I'm doing quite well in all my classes?

A few seconds of thought before Rukia finally said, "Y-You know what, I...I'm going for sure."

There. She'd said it. She let go of the air she was unconsciously holding in her lungs, a little relieved that she had gotten through to saying it, but a little worried about how she could make it happen.

Tōshirō instantly brightened. "Wow, that's great! I'm really excited!"

At this point, Rukia was honestly kind of exhausted from her inner ramblings, so in a weak effort to keep the conversation alive, all she managed ask was, "Are your friends going?"

She had just rolled the dice, and now she was riding on a slim possibility that she would even be allowed to go. If she didn't show up at the outreach, what would Tōshirō think of her then?

"Nah," he replied, the bright look still on his face. She couldn't help but feel slightly better—and proud, the girly-girl part of her insisted—at being the reason for this look. "They're all on the soccer team, and practice would be heavy around that time."

Rukia was slightly confused at that. "And what about you? Won't you be practicing?" Even though her mind was registering the details of the conversation, she couldn't help but feel giddy that were actually having a casual chat in the hallway. Where was Rangiku? Where was Momo? Rukia silently prayed that the class bell wouldn't ring just yet.

"Coach allowed me two weeks off because I really insisted," he answered with a sigh. "But that means I can't miss practice before then. Plus, the championship is almost right after that, so I guess I'll hardly be seeing anyone before the outreach."

Rukia froze for a moment before alarms started ringing inside her head and she panicked. The outreach was still about three weeks away. "W-what does that mean?"

"I'll be studying, practicing." He sighed again, sounding tired, but there was no hint of complaint in his tone. "But you know, I'm sure this outreach is gonna be worth it." Hitsugaya Tōshirō—soccer star and heartthrob—smiled at her for the second time that day. "It's good to know you're going, too. I hardly know anyone there."

Rukia felt her face grow hot. Was she blushing? Oh no! He'd notice! Rukia frantically started taking deep breaths to cool her face a bit, slightly fanning her face. Tōshirō must've noticed the odd reaction because he suddenly placed his hand and felt her forehead.

"You really okay? You know, I can walk you to the clinic if—"

And the class bell chose that very moment to ring. Rukia still had a loooong way to walk to get to her Home Economics class, so as she prepared to bolt, she hurriedly said, "Sorry, I have to go!" and started rushing off.

Tōshirō surprisingly called out to her, "See you at the outreach!"

The words rang in her ears. No freakin' way was Kuchiki Rukia going to back out now.

It was a week and a few days later when Rukia told her best friends about her conversation with Tōshirō in the hallway. Rangiku and Momo couldn't get over the fact that their raven-haired friend actually talked to Tōshirō for more than five minutes, and in Kaien's car going home, the two girls went over all the details of what they coined "the hallway exchange" to search for clues that the white-haired soccer star might actually like Rukia.

"I can feel that he actually likes you," Rangiku declared, flipping her strawberry blonde hair. "He even smiled at you—twice!"

Momo giggled, "Yeah, but we still need hard evidence!"

"He says he's excited to go when he found out Rukia's going, too, right? I think that's proof enough!" Rangiku tried to convince them, placing a finger on her chin.

"Well, if he doesn't like you yet, you have two weeks with him at the outreach to make him like you," Momo quipped from the front seat.

Kaien butted in, glancing at the car's rear view mirror to look at his raven-haired passenger. "Like enough for him to ask you to the ball. Don't you guys dare forget the bet."

"You're such a party-pooper, Kai." Rangiku made a face at him as she huffed. Then facing Rukia, she said in encouragement, "Don't let Kaien pressure you. Just relax. Be yourself. Seize the day and all that."

But Rukia couldn't relax because true enough, she hadn't seen the shadow of Tōshirō after "the hallway exchange". She knew he would most probably just be in the soccer field or in some study group, but she hadn't seen any sign of him at all. The outreach was now just a little over a week away, and Rukia still hadn't brought it up again with her dad, who lately seemed more ultra-preoccupied with work.

"Hey," Momo softly called out. "I hope when you come back from the outreach, he likes you already."

Rukia only managed to smile weakly as the same question still burned in her mind. What if she couldn't make it to the outreach?

Finally, the day of the outreach came, and Rukia nervously clutched her waiver form with her dad's forged signature as she looked at the long line of the participants for the outreach. She didn't dare bring the issue up the night before for fear that it might re-ignite her dad's anger and frustration. Although her father seemed a little more pleasant the past few days, there were still moments when Rukia sensed his mood was not suitable for discussing her going away for two weeks. Rukia knew what her overprotective father was going to say: It won't be safe, You might contract something and get sick, There will be too many boys and hardly any guardians... and he'd go on and on until Rukia was too worn out to protest.

And so she forged his signature. So she made a little crime. So what? It was all for a chance to do something good—and of course, a chance to hang out with Tōshirō, whom she now finally saw after several weeks, submitting his form.

Rukia slowly looked down at her own waiver form. She couldn't do it. She just couldn't commit a crime. She couldn't deal with the guilt of it. And how would she even explain being gone for two weeks? Her father would go berserk! For all she knew, in a few days there'd be a search party for her! It was all so silly that she thought of making a last ditch effort to get his permission.

So on a nearby phone booth, she called her dad up. This was it—judgement day.

As soon as Rukia heard her dad's voice on the other end of the line, she started pleading desperately like a madwoman. Apologizing to her father was very, very hard, but she really meant it.

"Dad, please. I'm really, really sorry for my rude behavior. I just...I just want to do something noble. Something you'd be proud of me for."

It was a little desperate, the way she pleaded with him, and it bordered on sounding corny. Rukia felt as though she was making a speech trying to make the Congress see how going to outreach programs should be a part of the curriculum for sophomores like her.

But the hard work paid off, thank Kamisama! Luckily, the scary Kuchiki Byakuya didn't try to be difficult once Rukia said, "Dad, I...I just think this would make me a better person." That was perhaps the cheesiest line Rukia had ever said in her entire life, but it was her trump card, and if her dad still didn't allow her to go, she had absolutely no idea what to do next. It was just really her lucky day that her dad finally said yes.

Byakuya sighed at the other end and readily said Rukia could go, and reminded her that as a young lady growing up, she needed to listen to her parents and respect them. Not as difficult as she thought he would be. Rukia had her dad speak on the phone to Yoruichi-sensei to tell her that Rukia had his blessings and created a lame excuse as to why she didn't have her waiver from with her. Rukia truly loved her father soooo much.

Whew! Talk about close calls!

By the time the whole permission thing was over and done with, Tōshirō had already boarded Bus A. It was already full, and Rukia had to be contented in riding Bus B where most of the people were noisy seniors.

For the whole duration of the trip, Rukia was asleep.

Upon reaching the evacuation site, everyone was astonished at the current state of the area. The place was dingy; families were trying to fit themselves in such a small space, using blankets as makeshift walls for some semblance of division; there was no electricity and mothers cooked over fire-pits dug into the ground, and their food came from whatever resources were available within the area, which wasn't much to begin with. The students were wondering how the families were able to survive the poor living conditions. It was going to be a long two-week stay for them, that was for sure.

Yoruichi-sensei immediately started instructing everyone about what they needed to do first. Of course, they were to bunk in tents—girls separate from the boys—so they needed to set those up first. She informed everyone that they would need to fetch for their own water for bathing at a makeshift bath, store their own drinking water and clean the area of their tents—on top of babysitting little children and making sure they eat three times a day while the parents were away, and serving as carpenters to build new homes.

Rukia saw how hard life could be and she momentarily forgot about her own world: the comforts of her home, schoolwork, Rangiku, Momo and Kaien, even Tōshirō who was just out there somewhere doing what he was told to.

Thanks for reading! Next update's tomorrow or the day after that. Have a good day!